Senior Director, Team Lead US Medical Affairs, COPD

Merck • REMOTE, REMOTE

1d • $210,400 - $331,100 • Remote

About The Position

The Senior Director, Team Lead (TL) of U.S. Medical Affairs (USMA) for COPD (Respiratory), position resides in the Value & Implementation (V&I) organization, which includes Global Medical and Scientific Affairs as well as Outcomes Research. The COPD TL drives strategic clarity, operational excellence, and cross-functional collaboration to enable impactful scientific engagement and insight generation. They are key leader responsible for guiding, coaching and developing Field Medical Affairs Professionals (FMAPs) to execute high-quality scientific and medical activities in alignment with USMA and enterprise priorities. In addition, they ensure all work reflects our company’s commitment to scientific integrity, ethical leadership, and patient-centered value.

Requirements

• MD, PhD, PharmD, DNP, or DO with demonstrated ability to effectively lead and coach scientific/medical colleagues at all skill and knowledge levels.
• Three (3) years in customer-facing, field medical-affairs role or relevant experience.
• Excellent interpersonal communication and presentation skills, strong personal integrity, teamwork abilities (including the ability to lead a therapeutic team across a geographical area), business acumen, and focus on scientific education and dialogue.
• Relevant therapeutic area knowledge (respiratory, specifically COPD)
• Ability to organize, prioritize, and work effectively in a constantly changing environment and to motivate a team to do the same.
• Desire to develop and manage a team in an environment of belonging, engagement and empowerment by:
• Navigating change in an evolving health care landscape.
• Leveraging diversity and inclusion to ensure business value, per global diversity and inclusion strategy.
• Ensuring accountability to drive an inclusive culture.
• Strengthening the foundational elements of diversity.
• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
• Clinical Practice
• Clinical Research
• Medical Affairs
• Pharmaceutical Medical Affairs
• Pharmacy Practice
• Respiratory Diseases Treatment
• Respiratory Pharmacology
• Team Leadership

Nice To Haves

• Five years of experience in a field-facing role
• Previous experience managing field-based medical personnel
• Relevant therapeutic-area knowledge and/or knowledge of the U.S. health-care delivery system.
• Previous management experience, especially field-based medical professionals.
• Strong working knowledge of the Microsoft Office Suite and ability to interface effectively with a variety of technical platforms, including Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI).
• Scientific/medical research experience, including scientific/medical publications.

Responsibilities

• Provides clear direction, vision and alignment to USMA strategy and enterprise priorities.
• Fosters team cohesion, morale and resilience through effective communication, recognition and accountability.
• Creates a culture of trust and psychological safety (i.e., safe to speak up) that promotes continuous learning and growth.
• Empowers team members to lead, take ownership, and drive innovation across the organization.
• Serves as a trusted partner to senior leaders, offering insights that shape decisions and strategic planning.
• Sets clear, measurable objectives aligned to USMA goals and monitors progress against established performance expectations.
• Ensures accountability by the disciplined use of performance documentation, highlighting impact, and addressing gaps in a timely manner.
• Acts as a responsible data steward to inform decision-making and demonstrates impact by the use of data, metrics, and reporting tools.
• Models integrity and ensure team adherence to compliance, medical governance, and regulatory requirements, fostering a culture of transparency and accountability.
• Contributes to annual budget planning through a clear understanding of future needs, effectively manages team budget, and acts as a financial steward of company resources.
• Ensures team understanding and execution of medical and scientific strategies within assigned therapeutic areas or functions.
• Translates strategic objectives into actionable engagement plans and measurable team deliverables.
• Monitors execution quality, scientific accuracy, and compliance with regulatory, legal and governance requirements.
• Guides teams to engage confidently in scientific exchange, strengthening scientific rigor and external stakeholder value. Ensure teams assert the company’s evidence-based scientific perspective with fair-balance and professionalism.
• Integrates field insights into strategic planning, enabling continuous refinement of USMA medical and scientific priorities.
• Coaches, mentors, and develops team members through structured feedback, goal setting, and guiding individualized development plans.
• Recruits, onboards and trains while providing ongoing coaching and performance management.
• Strengthens team capability by identifying growth opportunities.
• Partners with Human Resources (HR) and leadership to ensure succession readiness within the team.

Benefits

• medical, dental, vision healthcare and other insurance benefits (for employee and family)
• retirement benefits, including 401(k)
• paid holidays
• vacation
• compassionate and sick days
• annual bonus
• long-term incentive

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree